I got a freind with a sotgun that he inhereted from his grandfather; its a Winchester Model 12 and its cut down almost to the magazine, not sure if this is leagal but moving on, are there chokes avalable for these kind of shotguns?

It is possible on most of the older guns. A gunsmith will have to thread the barrel for tubes. Then you will have to buy the tubes. It can be pricey, and on some older guns the steel in the barrels is too thin to make it work.

A gun smith can also weld on an adjustable choke, this will gain you a half inch of barrel length.

If the barrel is sub 18 inch measuring for breach face to muzzle (a stick down the barrel on a closed bolt, mark the stick and measure) take the barrel off (if possible) and store in a different location until a replacement can be found.

Oneounceload is spot on. A little bit of too short can get you into a lot of trouble. (Remember, the Ruby Ridge incident started with a federal sting involving sawed-off shotguns).
If your gun was cut too short, a permanently installed extended choke tube might be a solution.

If the barrel's of legal length, then there's no reason you couldn't have screw-ins installed provided there is enough wall thickness. I've had Briley do my choke and tube work. Once, I had it done locally and was disappointed.

You guys are assuming that the gun is bored straight and if it is old it probably is not. There is an extremely small chance that down the tube that the barrel has the right radius to install standard chokes. If it was a full barrel a weld on choke might have helped, but there is too much pressure that low. To me this gun seems like a throwaway, or if it is illegal, a turn in. This unfortunately happens a lot with inheritance guns.

Well if he wanted to put a new barrel on it he could. It's not an inexpensive thing. Someone who asks if he can get chokes for a cut down barrel has already eliminated the possibility that he is willing to buy a new barrel with chokes does it not?

You could gain several inches or more with a Cutts Compensator if they are still around. I'd have a gunsmith silver soder or whatever just to be safe. Or you could tell them it was a Snake Charmer protype . They were lots shorter than 18in ??

First of all measure the barrel as described above. Second what is the original choke markings on the barrel? To suggest that it is short and may have a full choke is proof that your knowledge of Winchester Model 12's needs some refresher courses as the only choke they had on 20" barrels is cylinder bore. Replacement barrels are on the internet and a gunsmith can easily get you legal if illegal now.

Sounds like your friend's grandfather was pretty stupid to saw off the barrel on a fine shotgun like the Model 12. My own grandfather was equally stupid, and had sawed off the barrels on an old side by side 10 gauge.

I did not know that my Dad even had it in his possession. But when we cleaned out the basement of his home after he passed away, we found it hidden in a corner of the basement. Besides being illegal to own, the shotgun was totally ruined by rust inside the damp basement. In fact, everything my Dad had in the basement had to be thrown away, due to the damp environment corroding everything. The shotgun was already basically destroyed by the rust, and because of the barrels being sawed off, there was no option other than to dispose of it.

That model 12 was probably like my grandfather's shotgun, and was most likely sawed off back when it was still legal to do that to a shotgun.

My dad sold his 16 ga. Springfield-Stevens Model 215 SXS hammer gun made in the early '30's to a hunting buddy 60 years ago. His buddy cut off the barrels to 20" "to shoot rats" at the local grain elevator. When I expressed interest in it a few months ago, dad's friend gave it to me. I've shot it, and it has about an 18" dia. pattern at 15 yds. I'm thinking it might be a decent quail gun as is.

your "friend" should know the answer to this question. If its sawed off, there's no threads for a choke to be screwed on to. No decent gunsmith with touch an illegal length barrel to thread it either. If its legal length, there still is no choke you can buy. Gotta take it to a smith no matter what.

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